But, gloom for Mhow farmer

FOR MANGILAL Mandloi of Thawlay village in Nanded panchayat of Mhow tehsil the New Year brought tears with his entire carrot crop sown on six bighas of land being destroyed. The total loss is estimated at about Rs 4 lakh.

FOR MANGILAL Mandloi of Thawlay village in Nanded panchayat of Mhow tehsil the New Year brought tears with his entire carrot crop sown on six bighas of land being destroyed. The total loss is estimated at about Rs 4 lakh.

Mangilal told Hindustan Times that when he went to the field Saturday morning he found the plants, which were all right the previous night, on the ground. So shocked was he that he lost his senses for more than 15 minutes. Villagers informed his son Subhash, who rushed to the spot. Soon many others also gathered and found that the crop had been damaged due to strong pesticide sprayed on it.

They contacted agricultural scientist and owner of Maa Umiya Agricultural Medicines of Jamli, Ajay Bhoot, who confirmed that a strong chemical substance had been sprayed on the crop. Subhash and Mangilal then went to Manpur police station to report the matter. Manpur police registered a complaint against unknown persons, as the complainants were not sure about who had done it.

Ajay Bhoot later told Hindustan Times that the smell indicated that T240, which is a weedicide and is very strong, was sprayed on the crop. Manpur police station officer Vinod Dixit told Hindustan Times that the police had registered a case against unidentified persons under Section 427 of IPC. He said head constable Ajab Singh reported that four footprints were noticed on the field, which indicates that four persons were involved in the crime.

He said the loss is estimated to be about Rs 3 to Rs 4 lakh. Village sarpanch Soram Bai said it was a crime against humanity, not just against Mangilal.

Mangilal is a landless farmer aged about 80 and his only son Subhash helps him in farming. He said he has no land of his own and takes it from big farmers either on lease or on ratio sharing basis (called Bhagai). This year he took the land on 50:50 ratio sharing basis from Ramprasad Yadav and sowed carrot due to the great demand in Mumbai.

He had sown crop in October and the growth was so good that the plants were already about ten inches high and the carrot below the soil was about nine to ten inches in length.

He had plans to dig the carrot in mid-February. Mangilal is in despair as whatever be the fate of the crop, he will have to replay the loans he had taken.